Electrical switches are controls consisting of a mechanical, electrical, or electronic device for making, breaking, or changing the connections in a circuit. Switches are commonly used in most modern electrical and electronic devices to selectively place electrical or other signals onto desired signal paths. Electromechanical switches in particular are often found in medical, industrial, and consumer electronics, as well as other settings.
However, conventional electromechanical switches are not suitable for smart grid technology. The conventional electromechanical switch has a limited lifespan, is bulky in size, inflexible, and difficult to scale up and down. Moreover, it is expensive for commodity use.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,547,150 discloses an optical fiber cable housing with an integrated transducer and RFID element.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,468,669 discloses a method for identifying interconnect cables.
U.S. Patent Application 20100098425 discloses the use of a RFID overlay network with a fiber optic network for automating the discovery and configuration management of the physical fiber optic connections with a communications network.
U.S. Patent Application 20090040029 discloses a method for utilizing power storage devices to allow for non-peak demand electrical grid power to be stored and then resupplied back to the grid during peak demand times to reduce the peak demand power required from electrical generation facilities.